REVIEW: Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
📕 Love, Theoretically
✍️ Ali Hazelwood
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5: Cackle-out loud funny, STEMinist-smart, hot as hell.
The MCs:
♀️ Elsie Hannaway. 27. Cash-strapped adjunct prof of theoretical physics by day; fake-dater by night to pay the bills. Has type 1 diabetes. Compulsive people-pleaser.
♂️ Jack Smith. Early 30s. Experimental physicist, MIT professor, brother of Elsie’s fake-date. Privileged prodigy who famously and very publicly dissed theoretical physics. Holds the key to Elsie’s escape from the hamster wheel of adjunct professorship in his big, smug hand.
Setting:
📍Boston, MA
⏰ Present day
Pluses from my perspective:
❤️ Intellectual and academic subject matter delivered in a way that neither condescends nor insults your intelligence. It was fascinating to learn about areas (academia, physics) that I know almost nothing about – particularly the mutual hate-fest between theoretical and experimental physics.
❤️ How is anyone this funny? (The granny! The iTwat! Please stop!). 😆😜
❤️ Swoontastic buildup and consummation of tension.
❤️ Diverse side characters (race, ethnicity, LGBTQIA+.)
Things that made me go hmm:
🤔 While overall I liked Jack, I couldn’t connect with the fact that he’d never had a serious relationship. He came across as a bit of a player. Also, it’s rare to be any good at your first real relationship. Still, his love for Elsie is endearing, as is his insistence that she speak up for herself. Eventually he makes amends for the harm he caused to both Elsie’s job prospects and to the field of theoretical physics.
🤔 Will we ever get an FMC who, like 75% of women, can’t orgasm during P-in-V? Or who is orgasmically-diverse in ANY way besides “needs to feel full?” HMU if you know one.
Spice rating:
🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of 5: Still no more than four open door / on-page sex scenes. Sex acts and body parts are described relatively explicitly and/or using swear words. Bodily fluids and their movement are referenced, but relatively less explicitly.
Pairs well with:
🍷 The Soulmate Equation, by Christina Lauren. Another great STEMinist romance.
🍷 Two Wrongs Make a Right, by Chloe Liese. One word: hedgehogs. 🦔
Content advisories:
⚠️ Sexism and misogyny in STEM/academia.
⚠️ Chronic illness (type 1 diabetes).
⚠️ Toxic dynamics within MCs’ families.
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